1. Reasons for Amendment

○ The Amendment addresses weaknesses that have emerged from the operation of the “Good Agricultural Practice Standards” and responds to changing circumstances in Korea and abroad by improving safety control standards to ensure practicality, and thereby aims to supply the people with safe food.

2. Major Provisions

A. Change provisions requiring amendments to the notice to be made by a specialized committee to require consultation instead (Article 7)

* Change the specialized committee requirement to a consultation to ensure efficient management of amendments to the Good Agricultural Practice Standards.

B. Newly insert standards on the establishment/operation of a documented recall program (attached Table)

* Strengthen follow-up accountability of producers by establishing/operating a document recall/management program for problematic products, and ease requirements for producers that have registered for the “Agricultural Traceability Management System” to prescribe the establishment/operation of a recall program.

C. Newly insert safety control standards for soybean sprouts, microgreens (including baby leaf vegetables), mushrooms, etc. (attached Table)

* Prescribe that a “risk evaluation” shall be conducted on the materials used at least once a year, and newly insert standards on the hygienic storage and control of disinfected and sterilized equipment and materials (including containers and cones).

D. Newly insert precautions on the use of manure and provisions on the recording and management of the process control history of self-produced manure (attached Table)

* Newly insert control standards on handling, transportation, storage, etc. to ensure manure is fully decomposed before use and does not become a potential contaminant of the contact surfaces of agricultural produce.

E. Newly insert the application of drinking water quality standards to water used to grow mushrooms (attached Table)

* Newly insert provisions prescribing that water used to grow mushrooms within a facility shall be subject to drinking water quality standards, and water used to grow mushrooms outside a facility shall be subject to microbe limits and agricultural water standards.

F. Newly insert control standards to ensure that pesticides used on previous crops do not affect whether subsequent crops exceed the guidelines for safe use or maximum residue limits (attached Table)

G. Newly insert provisions on the prevention of contamination during the storage and transportation of agricultural produce (attached Table)

* Newly insert standards on hygiene control, prevention of contamination, and cleanliness control at storage/transportation facilities, and newly insert standards prescribing that paints and other non-food substances shall not be stored in the same space as crops.

H. Newly insert provisions prescribing that work sites shall have separate clean zones and standard zones, prescribe measures to prevent contamination by workers, and newly insert provisions requiring the use of labels to prevent food safety incidents (attached Table)

* Minimize contamination through the separation of work areas according to the degree of contamination; prevent contamination of agricultural produce caused by workers’ work shoes, rings, etc.; and recommend safety labeling of agricultural produce that pose a risk of allergies, etc.

I. Newly insert standards on the safety education and safety control of persons participating in agricultural work and persons with access to farms (attached Table)

* Newly insert standards prescribing that persons who participate in agricultural work shall be educated on the Good Agricultural Practice Standards, and newly insert standards to prevent contamination of agricultural produce by persons with access to farms.

J. Amend provisions to require the provision of a manual necessary for the operation of internal evaluations (attached Table)

* Amend provisions to require the provision of a manual necessary for the designation and operation of internal evaluators.